Appeal judges asked to clear notorious murderer Dr Crippen | UK news | The Guardian The Observer Appeal judges asked to clear notorious murderer Dr Crippen Dr. Hawley Crippen and Miss Ethel Le Neve in the dock on trial for the murder of the late Mrs. Crippen, c. 1910. Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS Saturday 6 June 2009 19.01 EDT First published on Saturday 6 June 2009 19.01 EDT Close This article is 7 years old The case of one of the most notorious murderers in British history, Hawley Crippen, is to be referred to the Court of Appeal, where the infamous doctor may secure a posthumous pardon 99 years after he was hanged. The Criminal Cases Review Commission has been secretly examining the safety of Dr Crippen's conviction and officials believe that senior judges should now decide whether he is innocent of the murder of his wife in 1910. Cases are referred to the appeal court if the commission feels there is a "real possibility" that the conviction will be ruled unsafe and quashed.

At the centre of the case is DNA evidence that may establish the innocence of the American-born Crippen. Lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano and leading QC James Lewis, acting for Patrick Crippen, a relative of the doctor, said they were told last Friday that the case would be referred to the court in a development that may make Crippen the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in British history rather than a name that is a byword for murder most foul. Crippen was hanged and buried in the grounds of Pentonville prison after a jury found him guilty. According to prosecutors at his Old Bailey trial in 1910, the homeopathic practitioner poisoned his unfaithful wife, Cora, dissected her body and buried the remains in the cellar of their north London home. Police found a corpse with no head, bones or genitals. Preparations are already under way to begin the exhumation of Crippen's body at Pentonville. Descendants of Crippen said yesterday that they were "90%" certain that the body would be ferried back to Michigan in the US, where the Crippens have a family burial plot.

Lawyers claim that such a development might also reveal the contents of a series of letters apparently buried in his coffin and which purportedly reveal the "truth" behind the body in the cellar. Key to the case are the results of DNA tests from US forensic biologists which show that the remains in the cellar could not be those of Crippen's wife because they belong to a man. Di Stefano, who was one of Saddam Hussein's defence team and who submitted the evidence to the commission after two years' work, said: "We have been told categorically that the case is being referred and we are now just waiting for the paperwork. The body was a man and so the pardon is deserved." The chief justice, Lord Alverstone, directed the Old Bailey jury in 1910 with concerns over the gender of the corpse by saying: "Of course, if it was a man ... the defendant is entitled to walk out of that dock." Lewis, whose prosecution cases include ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, has agreed to represent Crippen in court.

Crippen's place in criminal history is cemented by the fact that he booked a passage on a ship to Canada taking his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, disguised as his teenage son. The pair were recognised by the liner's captain, who famously used the new Marconi telegraph system to alert Scotland Yard. Yesterday Patrick Crippen said: "It is time to clear the family name. A lot of Crippens in the US are embarrassed to talk about Hawley." A spokesman for the commission confirmed that it had investigated Crippen's conviction, but said he had not been informed of a referral. PD James on Dr Crippen Telegraph Reporters 22 October 2015 • 10:04am On October 22 1910, American-born Dr Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey of poisoning his wife Corrine 'Cora' Turner, whose stage name was Belle Elmore. He was hanged on November 23 at Pentonville Prison. Here, in an article originally published in 2006, the esteemed late crime writer P D James reviews Supper with the Crippens by David James Smith.

Dr Crippen is not the only murderer who has cut up and buried his victim's body, but he is certainly the most notorious. The crime for which he was executed on November 23, 1910 can be summed up in the words of the Lord Chief Justice when, black cap on his wig, he delivered the sentence. "Hawley Harvey Crippen, you have been convicted, upon evidence which could leave no doubt on the minds of any reasonable men, that you cruelly poisoned your wife, that you concealed your crime, you mutilated her body, and disposed piecemeal of her remains; you possessed yourself of her property and used it for your own purposes. It was further established that as soon as suspicion was aroused you fled from justice and took every measure to conceal your flight. On the ghastly and wicked nature of the crime I will not dwell." Crippen's flight from justice was as dramatic as the discovery of his wife's remains buried in the cellar of their suburban house at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, in north London.

When it became apparent that the police were interested in his wife's disappearance and the discovery of the body was probably inevitable, Crippen panicked and boarded an ocean liner, the SS Montrose, to Canada with his mistress and secretary, Ethel le Neve, disguised as his son. A Page from the scrapbook of Scotland Yard Detective Charles Belcher, who worked on the Dr Crippen case. Pictures show Dr Crippen and his wife Belle Elmore By now the story of the buried remains and the missing husband were an international scandal with a fittingly dramatic end when Chief Inspector Dew of Scotland Yard, pursued by the world's press, chased the couple across the Atlantic and finally arrested them in the captain's cabin of the Montrose. Both were tried at the Old Bailey. Ethel, who was seen as Crippen's innocent dupe, was acquitted of being an accessory to the crime. David James Smith, a journalist, has been meticulous in his research and this book is likely to remain the definitive account of a crime which still intrigues, and to an extent baffles, aficionados of murder.

Mr Smith finds it difficult to believe that Ethel le Neve, even if not an accomplice, was unaware that she was fleeing with a murderer and he is almost certainly right in his belief that the motive for the crime was Crippen's great love for his mistress and her desperate need for marriage and respectability. In the words of that age, she wanted to be made an honest woman. It was this desire rather than any intense hatred by Crippen for his wife, which caused her death.Belle Elmore, as she styled herself, was not an easy woman to live with. They were an ill-assorted pair. Belle, a vaudeville artiste, was a domineering, dramatic and demanding mate for this mild-eyed, unassuming purveyor of homeopathic remedies. On January 31, 1910, friends of the couple, Clara Martinetti and her husband, were invited by Belle to take potluck dinner with them. When asked about the evening nearly six months later, Clara recalled that it was a pleasant time with the Crippens happy and natural and seemingly on the best of terms. Neither the Martinettis nor anyone else was to see Belle alive after that evening.

Crippen's love for his mistress and determination to save her, and his courage in the weeks before his execution, made it difficult for some students of the case to believe that he was responsible for such a horrendous crime Crippen's love for his mistress and determination to save her, and his courage in the weeks before his execution, made it difficult for some students of the case to believe that he was responsible for such a horrendous crime. It was suggested that the hyoscine found in Belle's body had been administered by Crippen to calm her sexual demands and that her death had been an accident. David James Smith will have none of this. But some mysteries still remain. Since Crippen removed the head and most of the body, why did he leave any remains to be discovered? How was the evisceration carried out? Were there kitchen knives adequate to the task? Why did Crippen tell Belle's friends that she had gone to Canada and then embroider his story when Belle, an enthusiastic letter-writer, would certainly have been in touch with them had she been alive? And was she indeed killed with hyoscine?

People whose upper windows overlooked the gardens at 39 Hilldrop Crescent heard two shots at the end of January between 7 and 8am. Why bring Ethel le Neve into his house, announcing they were married, and give her Belle's clothes and jewellery? No woman would believe that another had left her husband leaving easily portable jewellery behind.It is interesting that Crippen always insisted on his innocence and, in one of his last letters, complained that an appendix scar on the body was merely a fold in the skin. He was right in assuming that, had it not been possible to identify the remains, he would almost certainly have been safe.David James Smith has extended his investigations into the future. Ethel le Neve married in 1915 and had two children but never told her husband or her son or daughter that she had once been the notorious mistress of a murderer and had herself stood trial. Ethel's husband even wore the fob watch which Crippen had bequeathed to Ethel at his death. Ethel continued to live a normal life with husband, children and later grandchildren, and although her siblings obviously knew the truth since it had been part of their lives too, none of them ever talked of it.

As Ethel's niece said, 'You just didn't talk about things in those days, did you?' Ethel's determination to be respectable obviously remained with her to the end of her life. Editor's note: In 2007, DNA evidence questioned the identification of the body, shown to the jury, that was supposed to be Crippen's wife. It was suggested that the remains discovered in his cellar were those of a male person. This conclusion is disputed Follow Telegraph Books Was Dr Crippen innocent of his wife's murder? - BBC News BBC News Was Dr Crippen innocent of his wife's murder? 29 July 2010 Close share panel Image copyright Getty Images Hawley Crippen, the doctor hanged for the gruesome murder of his wife Cora, is one of the most infamous killers in British history. Exactly 100 years after his arrest, why is there a campaign to prove his innocence, asks Stephen Tomkins? Having the surname Crippen does not endear you to UK Customs, according to a distant relative of the infamous doctor convicted of killing his wife.

James Patrick Crippen of Ohio, second cousin three times removed of Dr Hawley Crippen, hopes to officially exonerate the black sheep of the family and bring his remains to the family plot in Michigan for a decent burial. "The evidence says the man should be pardoned," he says. "But everyone thinks of him as a murderer. Every time I have come through customs to England, someone has made a comment on my name, linking me to a murderer." Crippen rose to infamy by allegedly poisoning and dismembering his wife, hiding her remains under the basement floor, and fleeing for North America with his lover - and then being the first person to be caught using the wireless telegraph. The message was sent 100 years ago, and Crippen was arrested on arrival in Quebec on 31 July, 1910. His trial lasted only five days, and the jury's deliberations for less than half an hour.

The role of wireless radio Captain Henry Kendall saw through Crippen's disguise as the doctor boarded his ship with his lover dressed as a boy The SS Montrose was one of very few Canadian Pacific liners fitted with a Marconi wireless radio Kendall had the operator wire the White Star Line Offices in London The message read: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen - London cellar murderer and accomplice are among Saloon passengers. Moustache taken off - growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Voice manner and build undoubtedly a girl." British police caught a faster ship to Quebec and were there for Crippen's arrival The torso was identified as Cora Crippen's by a scar, the doctor was shown to have bought a large amount of the drug that killed her, and on his arrest he told Chief Inspector Dew: "I am not sorry; the anxiety has been too much." The mild-mannered murderer became a national celebrity and his waxwork stands in Madame Tussauds to this day. But was it all a huge miscarriage of justice? Was Crippen innocent after all? A growing body of people believe so, including family members and forensic scientists, and a campaign is under way to clear his name.

One line of evidence comes from John Trestrail, a toxicologist who has long puzzled over the mutilation of the corpse. The remains found were a torso without bones or sex organs. Mutilation is extremely unusual behaviour among poisoners, Mr Trestrail says. "A poisoner wants the death to appear natural so he can get a death certificate. This is the only case I know of where the victim was dismembered. It doesn't make sense." 'He finally cracked' Mr Trestrail brought in Professor David Foran, director of forensic science at Michigan State University, who led DNA analysis on the scarred skin of the corpse used in the trial. It was demanding work over two years, retrieving tissue preserved in formaldehyde from the glass slide it was attached to with pine resin. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Crippen's house in north London has since been demolished Mr Foran followed two lines of research and considers the results conclusive. First he isolated mitochondrial DNA, which remains unchanged throughout the generations down the female line. A genealogist found grandnieces of Cora Crippen who would have the same mitochondrial DNA as her, and repeated tests found they were not related to the body in the basement.

Then Mr Foran's team used new techniques to examine the nuclear DNA, and discovered a Y chromosome. Not only was the body not from Cora Crippen's family, it wasn't even a woman. As Mr Trestrail sums it up, "This is the slide which Spilsbury [the expert witness at the trial] used to identify the body as Cora Crippen's. And this was the evidence on which Crippen was convicted. But the substance in the slide is not Cora Crippen. No question. I don't say Hawley Crippen is innocent, but he is no longer proven guilty." Not everyone is convinced, however. John Boyne, whose book Crippen: A Novel of Murder, is to be reissued next year, says: "I think Crippen probably did kill his wife. His actions suggest guilt - his decision to flee the country and to dress Ethel LeNeve as his son rather than allow her to reveal her true identity on the ship as his lover. Cora made his life so miserable that I think he finally cracked." I have no interest in clearing Crippen's name.

What I care about is being right Professor David Foran, Forensic scientist Jonathan Menges, a writer and genealogist from San Diego, has written disputing Mr Foran's findings. Mr Menges claims the genealogy linking the living relatives to Cora Crippen is flawed - no birth certificate for her exists, for example, as they were rare in the US at the time - making the mitochondrial DNA tests irrelevant. He criticises the proceedings for having too much of an eye for showbiz - the nuclear DNA findings were first revealed on a TV documentary - and points out that they have not yet been published or peer-reviewed. He says that Crippen's behaviour demonstrates his guilt, and that a group in Salt Lake City are investigating the mysterious disappearance there of Crippen's first wife. "There is no doubt that Crippen is guilty," he says. Mr Foran responds that his work is to be published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, that he is fully satisfied by the genealogy, and that the remains are indisputably male. "I don't really care one way or the other whether the body was Cora Crippen's, I have no interest in clearing Crippen's name.

What I care about is being right. We tested and tested and tested, and if I had any doubts whatsoever I would never have come out with it. The body is not Cora Crippen's." Nevertheless, JP Crippen has failed to get the case reopened. The Criminal Cases Review Commission declined to refer it to the Court of Appeal, because he is too distant a relative to have sufficient interest. But Mr Trestrail agrees with him that the campaign to clear his name should continue. "It matters," he says. "Justice doesn't have a time limit." Dr Harvey Hawley Crippen: notorious killer's family 'in new exhumation fight' - Telegraph Crime Dr Harvey Hawley Crippen: notorious killer's family 'in new exhumation fight' The relatives of one of the country's most notorious killers, Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen, have made a final attempt to have his body exhumed from an English jail. Dr Crippen, left, was hanged in 1910 for the murder of Cora, right, his Roman Catholic wife Photo: REX FEATURES Follow Dr Crippen was hanged in 1910 for the murder of Cora his Roman Catholic wife.

He was arrested as he tried to flee the UK for America with his mistress Ethel Le Neve, who had dressed as a young boy for the journey. He was put to death after a sensational trial which captivated the Edwardian public. He had fled with his mistress aboard a ship but was arrested after Scotland Yard detectives stopped the vessel who were using new wireless telegraph technology. But exactly 100 years since his hanging, Dr Crippen's family have made a renewed push to have his remains exhumed from his grave at Pentonville jail, north London. Forensic scientists have tested a DNA sample taken from remains found in the cellar of Dr Crippen's north London home and discovered that, far from belonging to his missing wife, they were in fact the remains of a man. Related Articles Barry George faces retrial as Dando verdict quashed 15 Nov 2007 As a result the family have launched a legal battle to clear his name in an attempt to restore his image in the national consciousness from twisted wife killer to the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in British history.

In a move supported by the Archbishop of Westminster, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain, the family want Dr Crippen's body exhumed and reburied in the family plot in America. They want the doctor buried in his family plot in Coldwater, Michigan, where the bodies of 56 Crippens are already interred. They also want a judicial review of the law which dictates who can request for historic murders to be reinvestigated. They are due to argue their case at the High Court at a later date. James Crippen, 73, of Ohio, a second cousin three times removed, said he hoped to officially bring his relative's remains to the family plot in Michigan for a "proper burial". "The evidence says the man should be pardoned," he told the BBC. "But everyone thinks of him as a murderer.

Every time I have come through customs to England, someone has made a comment on my name, linking me to a murderer." He added to Sky News: "After 100 years I should be allowed to repatriate my relative and give him a proper burial." Jack Straw, the former Justice Secretary refused an application exhume the body because he considered Mr Crippen a distant relative who had not shown a "genuine, personal reason" for his application. Last week, while supporting Mr Straw's decision, a High Court judge invited Mr Crippen's lawyer to argue their case at a future hearing. Legal adviser Giovanni Di Stefano, who is representing the family, has written to the new Justice Secretary Ken Clarke asking him to agree to an exhumation. Mr Di Stefano has earned the nickname "the Devil's Advocate" for his defence of some of history's most famous evildoers including Saddam Hussein, Charles Bronson and paedophile pop star Gary Glitter. A spokesman for the MoJ said other previous applications have been rejected. The Criminal Cases Review Commission has already refused an application for appeal because he was not a "properly interested person".

The Body In The Cellar: Dr Crippen|MurderMap - London Homicide Reported Direct from The Old Bailey Case synopsis: The name of Dr Crippen still resonates more than 100 years after the murder of his wife became an international sensation. Born in Michigan, USA, as Hawley Harvey Crippen, he was not a real doctor but a promoter of homeopathic remedies. It was to pursue his career that in 1900 he and his wife Cora, a mediocre music hall performer (below left), travelled to London. But by 1910 he had lost his job and was sliding towards financial disaster due to an expensive affair with his 27 year-old secretary and a risky investment in a new business. His solution was to murder his wife of 17 years, dispose of her body, pawn her valuables and plunder her savings. Murdered?: Cora Crippen as Belle Elmore The killing, in the early hours of February 1, 1910, was carried out so successfully that it is still unclear how exactly he did it.

His plan might have worked had it not been for the contradictory accounts he gave for his wife's disappearance and his lover Ethel Le Neve's fondness for wearing Cora Crippen's jewellery and furs. The police were informed and interviewed Crippen, who claimed his wife had left him for another man. An initial search of the Crippen home at 39 Hilldrop Crescent in Holloway, north London, revealed no sign anything suspicious had taken place. But suddenly, fearful it was only a matter of time before he would be caught, Crippen and his lover fled the country and boarded a boat from Antwerp to Canada. Their flight prompted detectives to search the house again and this time they found a shallow grave in the cellar. There was no head, limbs or skeleton. All that remained of Cora Crippen were a few scraps of flesh, some bleached blonde hair and fragments of a pyjama jacket. The discovery on July 13 sparked one of the most notorious manhunts in British history as police put up a reward of £250 (roughly £100,000 in 2010).

In an attempt to disguise their true identities, Crippen shaved off his distinctive moustache and Le Neve dressed up as a boy in trousers, jacket, shirt and hat. The ruse did not fool the captain of the ss Montrose Harry Kendall, who used the then-newfangled telegraph to message his head office: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl." As a result, Police Chief Inspector Dew was able to catch a faster ship and intercept the pair at Quebec on July 31, making Crippen the first criminal to be caught with the help of wireless communication. It has been reported that when confronted Crippen replied "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer." Crippen's trial began on 18 October 1910, just two-and-a-half months later, at which it was claimed the remains in the cellar could be identified as those of Cora Crippen by a scar on a piece of abdominal tissue (pictured right).

The prosecution pathologist, Dr Bernard Spilsbury, said he had found evidence she was poisoned with Hyoscine, a chemical obtained from the nightshade family of plants. Crippen had collected the drug from a shop in New Oxford Street two weeks before the murder. He had also pawned a diamond ring hours after killing his wife and nearly £200 cash had been taken out of Cora's account between 5 April and 17 June 1910. In his evidence on oath, Crippen said that his wife had often threatened to leave him and had picked a quarrel with him over his behaviour while they were having friends round for dinner. Recounting the last time he saw her, he said: She abused me, and said some very strong things; she said that if I could not be a gentleman she had had enough of it and could not stand it any longer and she was going to leave. That was similar to her former threats, but she said besides something she had not said before; she said that after she had gone it would be necessary for me to cover up any scandal there might be by her leaving me, and I might do it in the very best way I could.

I came back the next day at my usual time, which would be about half-past seven or eight o'clock, and found that the house was vacant. The jury took just 27 minutes to reject Crippen's explanations for his wife's disappearance and convict him of murder. Crippen was executed on 23 November 1910, less than four months after his arrest. His last request was to have a photo of Ethel Le Neve in his top pocket when he was hanged. He was buried in the cemetery at Pentonville prison. Le Neve was cleared of being an accessory after the fact and left for New York. She returned a few years later, got married and lived in Croydon until her death aged 84 in 1967. The scene of the murder also vanished, destroyed by a bomb in World War Two and replaced with a block of flats. But even now the case remains controversial. In 2007 it was claimed that DNA testing of the preserved scar tissue proved the human remains were in fact male and not those of Cora Crippen.

Two years later in December 2009 the Criminal Cases Review Commission decided not to refer it to the Court of Appeal. An illicit photo of Crippen and Le Neve at Bow Street Magistrates Court _______________________ Sources and further reading: The court case transcript can be found here at the online Proceedings of the Old Bailey , including Crippen's evidence. This case is covered in depth on several websites including the Metropolitan Police website , , and Wikipedia. Pictures of Ethel le Neve, Cora Crippen and the scene of the crime can be found at knowledgeoflondon.com Hawley Harvey Crippen (Doctor) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Hawley Harvey Crippen Male Born Sep 11, 1862 Hawley Harvey Crippen, usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopathic physician and salesman hanged in Pentonville Prison, London for the murder of his wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen. He was the first criminal to be captured with the aid of wireless communication.

In 2007, American researchers concluded that their DNA tests cast doubt on his conviction, though this conclusion has been challenged.… Read More related links 'injustices Watchdog Failing Its Duties' Press Tv Google News - May 31, 2011 'According to Cooper the CCRC is apparently unwilling to review possible historical cases of injustice including the case of Dr Hawley Crippen who was hung in 1910 only with new evidence showing an important piece of evidence against him was false' Miscarriages Of Justice Are Going Unchallenged By Watchdog, Says Qc The Guardian Google News - May 28, 2011 'Cooper, who is seeking a judicial review of the watchdog&#39;s decision not to investigate the case of Dr Hawley Crippen, accused it of being reluctant to examine historic cases involving alleged miscarriages of justice. New evidence suggests that Crippen,' 30 August 1910: Dr Crippen On Trial The Guardian (Blog) Google News - May 20, 2011 'Dr.

Hawley Crippen and Miss Ethel Le Neve in the dock on trial for the murder of the late Mrs. Crippen, c. 1910. Photograph: Bettmann/CORBIS Dr Crippen and Ethel Le Neve were arrested for the murder of Crippen&#39;s wife, Cora Turner, also known as Belle' 'in The Garden Of Beasts' Review: An American Family Witnesses The Nazis' Rise ... Oregon Live.Com Google News - May 14, 2011 'In 1910, the notorious murderer, Dr. Hawley Crippen, fled England by sea. His capture involved dozens of frenzied wireless messages. A triumph for Marconi&#39;s new technology led to the hangman for Crippen. Larson&#39;s vivid new book, &quot;In the Garden of the' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Hawley Harvey Crippen. CHILDHOOD 1862 Birth Born on September 11, 1862.

TWENTIES 1884 21 Years Old Crippen studied first at the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical School and graduated from the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in 1884. 1892 29 Years Old Crippen's first wife, Charlotte, died of a stroke in 1892, and Crippen entrusted his parents, living in California, with the care of his two-year-old son, Hawley Otto. THIRTIES Having qualified as a homeopath, Crippen started to practise in New York, where in 1894 he married his second wife, Corrine "Cora" Turner (stage name: Belle Elmore), born Kunigunde Mackamotski to a German mother and a Polish-Russian father. … Read More She was a would-be music hall singer who openly had affairs. Read Less In 1894 Crippen started working for Dr Munyon's, a homeopathic pharmaceutical company. 1897 34 Years Old In 1897, Crippen and his wife moved to England. … Read More His US medical qualifications were not sufficient to allow him to practise as a doctor in the UK.

As Crippen continued working as a distributor of patent medicines, Cora socialised with a number of variety players of the time, including Lil Hawthorne of The Hawthorne Sisters and Lil's husband/manager John Nash. Read Less 1899 36 Years Old Crippen was sacked by Munyon's in 1899 for spending too much time managing his wife's stage career. FORTIES 1903 40 Years Old He became manager of Drouet's Institution for the Deaf, where he met Ethel Le Neve, a young typist, around 1903. 1905 42 Years Old After living at various addresses in London, the Crippens finally moved in 1905 to 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Road, Holloway, London, where they took in lodgers to augment Crippen's meagre income. 1908 45 Years Old Cora cuckolded Crippen with one of these lodgers, and in turn Crippen took Le Neve as his mistress in 1908.

… Read More After a party at their home on January 31, 1910, Cora disappeared. Hawley Crippen claimed that she had returned to the United States, and later added that she had died, and had been cremated, in California. Meanwhile, his lover, Ethel "Le Neve" Neave, moved into Hilldrop Crescent and began openly wearing Cora's clothes and jewelry.<br /><br /> Police first heard of Cora's disappearance from her friend, strongwoman Kate Williams, better known as Vulcana, but began to take the matter more seriously when asked to investigate by a personal friend of Scotland Yard Superintendent Frank Froest, John Nash and his entertainer wife, Lil Hawthorne. The house was searched, but nothing was found, and Crippen was interviewed by Chief Inspector Walter Dew. Crippen admitted that he had fabricated the story about his wife having died and explained that he had made it up in order to avoid any personal embarrassment because she had in fact left him and fled to America with one of her lovers, a music hall actor named Bruce Miller. After the interview (and a quick search of the house), Dew was satisfied with Crippen's story.

However, Crippen and Le Neve did not know this and fled in panic to Brussels, where they spent the night at a hotel. The following day, they went to Antwerp and boarded the Canadian Pacific liner for Canada. Read Less Show Less … Meanwhile, Crippen and Le Neve were crossing the Atlantic on Montrose, with Le Neve disguised as a boy. Captain Henry George Kendall recognized the fugitives and, just before steaming beyond the range of his ship-board transmitter, had telegraphist Lawrence Ernest Hughes send a wireless telegram to the British authorities: "Have strong suspicions that Crippen London cellar murderer and accomplice are among saloon passengers. Mustache taken off growing beard. Accomplice dressed as boy. Manner and build undoubtedly a girl." Had Crippen travelled third class, he probably would have escaped Kendall's notice. Dew boarded a faster White Star liner,, from Liverpool and arrived in Quebec, Canada, ahead of Crippen, and contacted the Canadian authorities. <br /><br />As Montrose entered the St. Lawrence River, Dew came aboard disguised as a pilot. Canada was then still a dominion within the British Empire.

If Crippen, an American citizen, had sailed to the United States instead, even if he had been recognised, it would have taken extradition proceedings to bring him to trial. Kendall invited Crippen to meet the pilots as they came aboard. Dew removed his pilot's cap and said, "Good morning, Dr Crippen. Do you know me? I'm Chief Inspector Dew from Scotland Yard." After a pause, Crippen replied, "Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great. I couldn't stand it any longer." He then held out his wrists for the handcuffs. Read Less Crippen and Le Neve were arrested on board the Montrose on July 31, 1910. … Read More Crippen was returned to England on board the.<br /><br /> The Crippen murder was featured in a popular song: <br /><br /> Dr Crippen killed Belle Elmore Ran away with Miss le Neve Right across the ocean blue Followed by Inspector Dew Ship's ahoy, naughty boy!

Read Less Crippen and le Neve were tried separately at the London assizes, held at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London; Crippen's trial took place from 18 to 22 October and Ethel le Neve's on 25 October 1910. … Read More The pathologists appearing for the prosecution, including Spilsbury, could not identify the remains or even discern whether they were male or female. However, Spilsbury found a piece of skin with what he claimed to be an abdominal scar consistent with Cora's medical history. Large quantities of the toxic compound hyoscine were found in the remains, and Crippen had bought the drug before the murder from a local chemist.<br /><br /> Crippen's defense maintained that Cora had fled to America with another man named Bruce Miller and that Cora and Hawley had been living at the house since only 1905, suggesting a previous owner of the house was responsible for the placement of the remains.

The defense asserted that the abdominal scar identified by pathologist Spilsbury was really just folded tissue, for among other things, it had hair follicles growing from it, something scar tissue could not have; Spilsbury noted that the sebaceous glands appeared at the ends but not in the middle of the scar. Read Less … Other evidence presented by the prosecution included a piece of a man's pajama top supposedly from a pair Cora had given Crippen a year earlier. The pajama bottoms were found in Crippen's bedroom, but not the top. The fragment included the manufacturer's label Jones Bros. Curlers with bleached hair consistent with Cora's were found with the remains. Testimony from a Jones Bros. representative, the store that the pajama top fragment came from, stated that the product was not sold prior to 1908, thus placing the date of manufacture well within the time period of when the Crippens occupied the house and when Cora gave the garment to Hawley the year before in 1909. <br /><br />Throughout the proceedings and at his sentencing, Crippen showed no remorse for his wife and concern for only his lover's reputation.

After just 27 minutes of deliberations, the jury found Crippen guilty of murder. Read Less He was hanged by John Ellis, assisted by William Willis, at 9 a.m. on November 23, 1910 at Pentonville Prison, London. … Read More Le Neve was charged only with being an accessory after the fact and acquitted. She emigrated to the United States on the morning of her lover's execution. At his request, her photograph was placed in his coffin and buried with him.<br /><br /> Although Crippen's grave in the prison grounds is not marked by a stone, tradition has it that soon after his burial, a rose bush was planted over it. Some of his relatives in Michigan have begun lobbying for his remains to be repatriated to the United States.<br /><br /> A theory which was first propounded by Edward Marshall Hall was that Crippen was using hyoscine on his wife as a depressant or anaphrodisiac, but accidentally gave her an overdose and then panicked when she died.

It is said that Hall declined to lead Crippen's defense because another theory was to be propounded.<br /><br /> In 1981, newspapers reported that Sir Hugh Rhys Rankin claimed to have met Ethel Le Neve in 1930 in Australia and that on that occasion, she told him that Crippen murdered his wife because she had syphilis. Read Less Died on November 23, 1910. Original Authors of this text are noted on . BBC NEWS | UK | Crippen mystery remains despite DNA claim Crippen mystery remains despite DNA claim Dr Crippen was apprehended on his way to Canada On 18 October, 97 years ago, the murder trial of Dr Hawley Crippen started at the Old Bailey. It gripped the public, as had his flight with his mistress dressed as a boy and subsequent police chase across the Atlantic. Now US researchers suggest DNA evidence shows a body found under his house was not that of his wife. To Irish author John Boyne, who maintained the doctor's innocence in his novel Crippen, it is no surprise. For a novelist, debunking the theory behind a notorious murder case makes for attractive fiction.

In his book Crippen, John Boyne suggests Hawley Crippen was wrongly hanged for the murder of his showgirl wife Cora. Dr Crippen went to the gallows maintaining his innocence - it appears now he was telling the truth John Boyne Now American scientists say they have DNA evidence proving the headless body found under the Crippens' north London home was not actually Mrs Crippen. "Dr Crippen went to the gallows maintaining his innocence - it appears now he was telling the truth," said Mr Boyne. The researchers from Michigan State University tracked down three of Mrs Crippen's grandnieces and compared their mitochondrial DNA with that of the body in the cellar kept on a microscope slide since the trial in 1910. DNA samples Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from mother to daughter. Unlike regular DNA, it remains more stable in old tissue and is easier to retrieve. David Foran, a forensic biologist and director of the university's forensic science programme, said: "This can't be Cora Crippen. We're certain of that.

The DNA in the sample is different from the known relatives of Cora Crippen." For his 2004 book, Boyne pored over pages of original trial transcripts and came to the conclusion the evidence against Crippen was flimsy. "Everybody at the time who knew Crippen was really shocked," he said. "He was too mild mannered, they said, too meek. I thought there must be something in that." In the pre-DNA days of the trial, pathologist Bernard Spilsbury's identification evidence rested on a scar on the body's abdomen he claimed was consistent with Mrs Crippen's medical history. It was like the OJ case John Boyne But to trial observers, what sealed Crippen's guilt was his suspicious flight with his mistress, Ethel le Neve, disguised as his son. The pair boarded the SS Montrose to sail to Canada. But they were recognised by the ship's captain. Even more unluckily for them was that the Montrose was the first ship to carry Marconi's new telegram system so the ship's captain could alert Scotland Yard.

With newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic following every twist and turn of the chase, they were able to take a faster passage and meet the Montrose as she arrived in Quebec. The details of the flight captivated the public back then, and continues to intrigue. Remaining mystery "It's still an interesting story," said Mr Boyne. "To be so unlucky to be on the first boat with the telegram. "Everybody in the world knew they had been identified and detectives were on their way - apart from the people on the boat. It was like the OJ case." In his story, Mr Boyne invents another character who could have killed Mrs Crippen. But even if it wasn't her, there was still a body under the Crippens' house. "I don't think the DNA evidence has cleared anything up," he said. "There were suggestions Crippen could have been an abortionist and the body in the cellar was one which went wrong. "He still dressed his mistress as his son and fled. He obviously had something to hide. "Dr Crippen is one of those mysteries that will never be solved."

Question: What was the first name of notorious murderer Doctor Crippen?
Answer: HAWLEY